


The Past that Bleeds the Future

by DragonLover19



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Feels, Hat Kid's past, Past Lives, Sick Hat Kid, Snatcher's past, Time Travel, Timepiece
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-16 19:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16501403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonLover19/pseuds/DragonLover19
Summary: Waking up in a familiar forest was bad enough when it's not the exact forest he knew. Especially when Snatcher finds himself staring at... well, himself. More accurately, his old living self that was still in love with the crazy not yet queen Vanessa.Now he has to find a way to fix this, find the kid, and return to the present before anything bad happens to his forest. Now if only it were as easy as it sounded.





	1. Unfamiliar Fmailiar Grounds

_Everything._

_Hurts._

Was a massive understatement as Snatcher slowly regained consciousness. He didn’t recall being in pain before or being in _this_ much pain in his afterlife. A groan of pain tore out from him as he slowly shifted his body, moving his arms under him and pushing himself upright. It could have gone better if his head didn’t feel like bricks.

“ **peck… what happened?** ” He slowly opened his eyes, rubbing his head to ease away some of his pain. It was then that he realized how stiff he felt. He could feel his arms were slow and sluggish, even his back felt oddly stiff. This wasn’t normal on the account that for one, he was a ghost, and two, he normally didn’t feel pain. He _inflicted_ pain on others, not the other way around.

He glanced at his arms and… _**whoa**_.

His whole arm was covered in injuries. In his experience over the years, not a lot of things could harm him. Not since he figured out that he could deny himself from turning blue. But the few things that could were often rare items with magical properties and maybe another powerful ghost. He had at one time wondered what his insides looked liked. Curiosity getting the better of him to know his new form back then.

So, maybe it was a bit alarming to see open wounds on his limbs. And since he was a ghost and didn’t have normal standings like a living being, it only made sense that his wounds too were of unnatural standers. Tears of glowing blue shined out of his wounds, blood of neon green dripped out with tendrils of dark sparking ghostly matter, the edges of his open cuts emanated with purple wisps that were working hard to repairing the damage done to him.

He had a feeling that the rest of him didn’t look so good. Which was true when he looked down at himself and found more open wounds, along with a major slash on his chest with multiple holes in his whole body.

“ **…** _**Peck.**_ ” He cursed, poking his major wound and winced in pain. That wound alone would take _days_ to heal properly. Never mind his arms or the slamming headache he felt, this one was going to last the longest out of all of them! All his power was going to focus on healing him and that only left him with basically nothing. He couldn’t do anything without his power and he relied it on everything to do, well, _WHATEVER HE WANTED!_

Snatcher growled. Whoever had done this to him was in for a world of _pain_.

“ **Can this day get any worse?** ” He bothered asking himself, flexing his fingers. Good news was that his fingers still worked, bad news was that this day could get worse if someone decided to show up in his forest right now when he was at his weakest. He could send his minions out to scare poor unsuspecting fools and chase them around till he managed to get a decent amount of his power back.

But then again the minions weren’t all _that_ scary. Not even a _toddler_ would be afraid of them! He would just have to scare them out himself until he could make contracts again. Which was a big waste of free labor on his part.

He sighed heavily. This was going smoothly. Whoever had done this to him really knew how to mess with him. Though, some part of him felt like he was forgetting something. Something… important. It was a nagging feeling that was growing worse by the minute. Even more than his headache.

“ **Why does it feel like I forgot something?** ” He hissed, slowly easing his body to float, leaning against a tree for support as he did. He tried thinking to his earliest memories. It was a bit of a foggy haze. Anything he tried to remember was met by a blockade of deep mist and fog. “ **This is getting old real fast.** ”

Back to his full height, he took a chance to look around. Everything seemed normal enough. Trees, night sky, dark foreboding woods. Though there weren’t any spiders nearby. Shame. He would have loved to squish one of those buggers between his fingers and pretend they were screaming for mercy. Whatever.

First things first. He had to find out what happened first and then figure out what to do then. “ **Don’t suppose I still have enough energy to fly or teleport around yet.** ” He looked around, looking at the trees for anything. He wasn’t going to float around and look like some sort of petty weakling. He was still the king and he had his dignity to maintain. Though… the trees _did_ give him an idea.

In life he had a certain fondness for snakes. They were scaly, limbless, and had the most intriguing head shape. He had always pretended to slither about, hissing and tasting the air with his tongue. Poor maids were spooked out of their skirts when he showed them any snake he found in the garden, though they would always try to warn him that any snake he found could by deadly.

Too bad for them that he had studied up on snakes and knew that not _all_ snakes had venom. Digging his claws into the tree, he slowly started to climb upwards, wrapping around the tree’s thick trunk, and using his whole body to support himself and secure a tight hold so he wouldn’t fall as he went higher up. It was lucky that this tree had plenty of limbs on top that could support him once he reached nearly the end. He had a perfect view up above, and the canopy of foliage provided cover for him.

Not that he would need it. He had nothing to fear of his own forest. Now, where was his small little village at? He started off in what he thought was the right direction, slithering against tree branches and going to the next tree. Branch after branch to get through the trees was an easier way to get around, but there were a few snags to his plan. One was being that not all trees were in close proximity of each other and their branches didn’t always reach out.

“ **Still better than floating like a fool.** ” Snatcher mussed to himself, looking for the next tree to get to. Before he could move any further, his senses picked up something. Something fast approaching. Coiling around the tree and making himself blend in with the foliage, he watched the ground far down below him.

To his surprise, a pair of knights riding on horses came to a stop just below him.  One of the pair was holding a torch, lighting up the small area and giving him a chance to see the pair in their bright shining armor. Their steeds were also covered in armor, from their heads down to their legs. They looked ready for battle, though he didn’t understand why. Armor and horse riding knights died out years ago. Who would be stupid enough to get this dressed up in a dead era get up?

“Nothing around here sir. Is this the place that the villagers saw the light?” One of them spoke, though it was hard to tell which of them did. Helmets were a real bother.

“I’m not sure. That light could have come from somewhere deep inside the forest. Be on the lookout for anything out of place.” Out of place? Snatcher frowned deeply. The only thing out of place in this forest were a pair of idiots dressed up as knights riding their dumb horses through _his_ forest acting like they owned the pecking place!

They were acting like the—

The…

He blinked. The… what? What was he just thinking about?

“Do you think it might be an enemy attack sir?” Snatcher snapped out of his thoughts, gazing back on the knights.

“Maybe. Could be some sort of trick to lure the guards away from the mansion and set up a sneaky attack. Too bad for them that they probably don’t expect that most of the guards are still back at the mansion. No one’s going to be attacking our kingdom with our guard down. We’ve got all sides secured.”

 _ **Oh yeah? Have you tried looking up for attacks?**_ Snatcher bitterly thought as the pair looked around down below. They were starting the get on his nerves. What village? What mansion? There was only one of each of those, and one of them was a death sentence to an icy grave.

“Still, we better make this a quick search. The queen won’t be happy if anything messes with the ball tonight.”

“Certainly. The Princess Vanessa had planned this ball for some time and the guests have already started arriving at the mansion. Let’s search around deeper. Don’t want to stir up any panic for the village to worry about.”

Snatcher glared as the pair rode off deeper into the woods. “ **Pfft. Pesky beings.** ” He huffed once the light of the torch disappeared into the darkness. “ **Coming into _my_ home. Acting like they own _MY_ forest.**” He extended his body out, keeping the end of his body wrapped around the tree as he glared in the direction they went.

“ **And what was with the get up? No one dresses like tin cans anymore. That fashion line died out _years_ ago.**” He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms against his chest. “ **Oh. Look at me! I’m a big brave knight on a might steed here to serve my kingdom and protect it from danger. GET A LIFE!** ” Snatcher growled, turning his back and looked to the direction the so called knights had come from.

“ **Now why were they talking about my village like it was some helpless settlement? Ghosts don’t need protection from attackers. They’re already dead!** ” He scratched his chin, thinking deeply. “ **And what’s this about a ball and mansion? There’s only one mansion and it’s certainly not fit for a ball. Especially if it was planned by V—** ”

He froze. Slowly it started to dawn on him as his mind processed what he had heard not two minutes ago. “ **V… V… V-V-V-V-VANESSA?!** ” He screamed, clutching his head in fear as his eyes widened in impossible circumstances. Unfortunately, thanks to his sudden realization, he forgot about his grip on the tree. And how high up he was.

It was very painful to land face first on the ground, especially since it jolted his wounds. But at least no one was around to see it happen. He would never be able to deal with the humiliation.

“ **V-Vanessa?! Surely they-ow, they didn’t mean th- _that_** **Vanessa?!** ” He was immensely panicking, picking himself off of the ground. He hadn’t noticed before, but now that he was closer to the ground, he could see green grass covering the earth. Green and _living_ grass. He looked up at the trees he was in just seconds ago and, yep, they too were alive and healthy. _Living. Normal trees._

Not dead trees with bark as black as night. Not limbs of sharp branches that twisted and looked that could grab out from high above. Not dead old oaks that had nooses hanging from them waiting for an unfortunate soul to hang themselves with. Not the normal spooky Subcon Forest trees that he lived in for _hundreds of years_ with. But living, growing, healthy green leaved trees that stretched to the sky high up in the air.

“ **W-wait, what happened to my trees?! What happened to my dead purple ground?! What happened to my night sky?!** ” Panic was over coming him as he took in the new surroundings carefully. “ **Where’s the nooses?! The spiders?! The crows?! My—** ” He froze as a sudden deep feeling of dread came over him. “ **… My minions. My Dwellers.** ” His hands slowly went up to his face, covering his mouth with one hands and gripping his mane with the other. “ _ **My subjects…**_ ”

Now that he was aware of the changes to his forest, he realized the lack of his ghostly subjects anywhere. He couldn’t sense _**any**_ of his subjects. No minions. No Dwellers. No _Fire Spirits._ All of them were gone.

“ ** _No _no no no no no no__ this CAN’T be happening!**” Snatcher clutched his head tightly, his entire form shaking in despair as the reality of it all started setting in on him. How could have this happened?! There was no way all his subjects had _vanished!_ It was impossible!

“ **O-okay. Calm down old b-boy. Take it easy.** ” He tried calming himself down, feeling himself riling up wasn’t going to help him. “ **Okay. Think. Think think think. You woke up wounded. You’re in your forest yet… not in your forest.** ” He looked around, having a slight hope that something in the trees would give him an answer. “ **You know this is Subcon because it’s the largest forest on the planet. You don’t know how this happened and you can’t remember how you got here. Apparently, _Princess Vanessa_ followed you here and… wait.**” He paused, thinking back to the knights’ conversation with each other.

“ **Princess _._ They said _princess_. Not _queen_.**” Gears started turning in his head. He knew for a fact that Vanessa was crowned queen after her mother’s accident, a week before he was off to Law school to study practices of law. Before all that, she was just the Queen’s daughter, a princess to the throne. But, that was _years_ ago when he was still alive. Surely this was just a bad dream right? Just a bad coincidence of names mixed around right?

“ **But if that’s the case.** ” He looked into the direction the knights came from. “ **What’s this _ball_ got to do with anything?**” He hummed, climbing back up the tree and headed off with a new purpose to deal with.

~*~

He arrived much faster than he had anticipated. What he arrived to was not what he had been expecting. A small village, with buildings, shops, and completely intact! There wasn’t even a single abandoned building in this place!

“ **How on earth can this place be so _dull?_ ”** Snatcher asked himself, jumping rooftop to rooftop since there were no trees to climb. “ **There’s no broken holes, or toppled buildings, or even a house fire!** ” Huffing, he came to the last building on the outer line of the small village, just close enough to a familiar _normal_ looking mansion just beyond a tall brick wall.

“ **Well this is certainly something new.** ” He mused, climbing down the building and slinking up and over the wall. “Or **more accurately, something _old._ ”** He gazed at this familiar ground, feeling a nauseating déjà vu at the mansion laid out before him. “ **This feels like a bad trip down memory lane.** ” He muttered darkly to himself, slinking up the building as he kept to the darkness.

He didn’t want to be seen and stir up a panic. That would be bad in a lot of cases. Besides, he didn’t know what would happen if someone caught sight of him. Would they hurt him? Scream? Run away? Send out a panic? Maybe. Probably. But he wasn’t going to risk it. Not yet. He needed intel first. And without his minions, he had to do it himself.

Laughter reached his ears, and he looked up at the windows he was crawling under. He could hear fancy music, happy voices, giggles of mirth and laughter coming from within the mansion. It was sickening how this place once was back in his kingdom. It was so sickening that it was getting on his nerves a whole lot and making his insides turn with disgust. Finding a gap between the windows, he climbed up onto the rooftop where the noise was less droning on his eardrums.

“ **Oooiiii. This has to be a bad dream.** ” He rubbed his eyes, laying on roof like a cat. “ **I don’t even have a clue what’s going on.** ” He looked at his arm, flexing his fingers. “ **Or who did this to me.** ” He sighed, dropping the appendage. “ **I better get something that clears up this mess soon.** ”

He started climbing to the back of the mansion where most balls were held. How did he know this? Because the front area of the mansion was too small to hold a ball and the back area of this place was bigger.

Peering down and finding a window, he gazed inside. The ball was in full swing. Guests were dancing away to the music, people were mingling with each other, fine wine was being served, the refreshment table was stocked with the best food, and the ballroom was in perfect style and condition.

It was _**sickeningly, disgustingly, over the top, no question about it, TERRIBLE!**_

It all looked so familiar yet he couldn’t be sure if what he was seeing was real! And the way those people acted so happy! Ugh! He just wanted to go in there and pop their little heads off after the last guy—

“ ** _Stop_ _it!_** ” Snatcher hissed, holding his head and giving it a good shake. That nagging feeling was back. Stronger than before. “ **I’ll deal with it later! I need to focus right now.** ” He looked back into the ballroom. There was something here that he was missing. Something that could help him figure out what was going on.

“May we have your attention please!” He blinked, gazing towards the grand staircase at the back of the ballroom. An old butler stood at the base that Snatcher could help but feel like he knew him somewhere. “It’s with great honor to announce the lady and lord of honor of tonight’s hosts! Presenting Lady Vanessa! The queen’s daughter and heir to the throne!”

The room erupted into applause, though Snatcher was horrified as a young blond wearing a _strikingly_ similar green dress walked down the stairs and it can’t be her it can’t be her it _can’t_ be _her it can’t be her it **can’t**_ _be her **it can’t be her IT CAN’T BE HER IT CAN’T BE HER—**_

“I would like to personally thank you all for attending tonight’s ball this fine evening.” It felt like a punch to the face when _**HER**_ voice rang out, and oh _**NIGHTMARES!**_ IT _**WAS**_ HER! Wait, if that was her then that meant—

“And introducing the young mistresses lover!” Snatcher pressed his face to the window, hoping that this was some sick game. “I present the young Prince, heir to the village Silverflower, Prince—”

Everything went in slow motion as everyone looked to the top of the staircase. If Snatcher had a heart, it would have missed a lot of beats as a young man. “… _ **no…**_ ” Tall. “ ** _no _.__** ” Regal dressing. “ ** _no _.__** ” Coconut hair. “ _ **No.**_ ” Red familiar coat. “ _ **No.**_ ” Strikingly handsome features. “ ** _No _!__** ” And a crown worn on top of his head. “ _ **NO!**_ **”**

“Hafez!” The crowd once again erupted into applause as the prince, Prince Hafez, Prince once himself but now not only now he was but still wasn’t and what WAS GOING _**ON?!**_ , descended the stairs next to _**No! Nightmares no! Not her! It really can’t be her!**_ Vanessa. The Prince himself but not himself smiled, bowing to the crowd before turning to Vanessa, extending one hand. She smiled and placed her own hand in his own and he placed a gentle kiss on it—

“ **GAK!** ” Snatcher clutched his chest, falling backwards to the ground again. Once his senses were somewhat stable, he quickly took off to the woods, jumping up into a tree and went as fast as he could to get away from what he just saw.

“ ** _WHAT_ _THE PECK IS GOING ON?!_ ”** He roared, his mind going overboard with the sudden new information and scene he just saw. Seeing himself, but not himself. Seeing Vanessa but not _Vanessa_ Vanessa. Seeing the town that was _supposed to be frozen in **ice**_ in mint condition.

The trees ran out and Snatcher fell to the ground again, but he got up and climbed a new tree. This didn’t make any sense! All of this! The trees! The ground! The sky! The village! The mansion! Vanessa! Himself! They shouldn’t even _**be here!**_ What was going on?!

The trees ran out again and this time when he fell to the ground, he didn’t bother getting up.

He couldn’t.

Not after seeing _that_ and running away.

His energy just seemed to vanish, just like his minions.

No, they didn’t vanish.

They weren’t his minions _yet._

They were still alive, frolicking in their little homes, enjoying the warmth of family and a warm bed.

“ ** _what _is going on?__** ” Snatcher moaned, laying on the ground like a broken manikin. If he could cry, which he wouldn’t mind you he still had _some_ dignity left, there would be puddles under his crippled pathetic form. His life, no, his KINGDOM was gone! All of it! His spooky forest. His minions. All of it was gone.

Now there was Vanessa and him not him back at the mansion and oh he could see it in their eyes and tell that they were in _**LOVE!**_ The same emotion that ruined him and turned him into _**THIS!**_ How?! Their little _‘thing’_ ended when she put him in chains and left him to rot in the dungeon. But they were still clearly in _**LOVE!**_ But it wasn’t possible! He didn’t love her! His old self did once, but not now!

“ **HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED TO ME?!** ” Snatcher wailed, dragging himself over to a tree and started to dig his claws into the bark. “ **Has the universe betrayed me?! Does the world find my pain funny?! What did I ever do—besides taking a few hundred souls in my time—to ever deserve this?! What did I ever do?!** ” He pounded his fists at the tree, openly yelling like a small kid he once was when he didn’t understand why mother was lowered to the ground six feet under.

Snatcher turned his gaze to the stars on the clear night sky. “ **What happened to my forest?** ” He sighed deeply, hanging his head low and hitting it against the tree. He looked up and… wait.

He backed up a bit, looking at the claw marks he left in the wood. They were only just that, claw marks, but there was a certain placement with a couple of them that looked… oddly familiar to him. It wasn’t special, it was just an X shape with lines at the top and bottom. It oddly looked just like an hourgl—

It hit him.

Snatcher gasped as memories flashed before his eyes. The fight. The battle. The kid in danger of dying. That stupid blue corpse. A Timepiece. Going into an uncontrollable rage. Winning. Saving the kid. The Timepiece smashing beside them and—

Oh _**PECK!**_

Snatcher shot up, climbing up the tree with great speed that he never knew he had before without his teleportation, reaching the top and looked around. He wasn’t in a nightmare. He went _back in time!_ Back before Subcon was his ghostly domain. Back before he was dead! Back before Vanessa was crowned queen and the whole misunderstanding of the flowers had went down and he was chained up forever in that dark cold dungeon never to see the light ever again.

But that wasn’t what set him into a panic as he looked about wildly, his eyes scanning the forest for something far more important than what he could ever know. The Timepiece smashed near him, but it didn’t just take him with it. There was one more passenger who was missing when he woke up in his forest of the past. A passenger who he had forgotten up to this point now that his mind was clear and the clues were left about. The one person who probably knew time traveling better than he ever would in five lifetimes.

The same person he promised to bring back alive when he went to check up on them and found a hanged minion against the wall with a doll wrapped around their neck and a note pinned to their body.

“ _ **KIDDO!**_ ”


	2. Search and Find

_Idiot._

“ **I _know._** ”

_Stupid._

“ **SHUT UP!** ” Snatcher growled, speeding through the trees. It had nearly been an hour in his search for the kid once he realized she was missing. He didn’t recall seeing her once he woke up, but then again he hadn’t really checked his surroundings that much when he regained consciousness. Time travel wasn’t as easy as the kid made it to be.

“ **The one time when I need you the most. The _one time_ when I need your help, and it’s all thanks to time travel.**” Snatcher growled, making a daring leap to the next tree. He didn’t exactly know where he was going at this point. Searching for the kid was top priority, but he didn’t know _where_ to start looking for her.

Subcon was a _massive_ place. Almost as big as the desert on the outskirts of the forest. Was it a desert at this point in time? He never _did_ leave Subcon in his— ** _FOCUS SNATCHER! FOCUS!_** Finding the kid comes first! With her help they could go back to their timeline before anything major happened to this one. He wasn’t an expert with time, but he did manage to grasp the concept of the butterfly effect well enough.

“ **Come on kid, where _are_ you?**” He hung himself upside down like a bat, checking under bushes and upturned roots that would be big enough for a kid to climb in. Only for no sign of the kid to his disappointment. “ **You would be so much easier to find if I had some of my minions with me.** ” He grumbled, going back up the tree to continue his search elsewhere.

“ **With all this tree climbing, you would think the kid would find me first.** ” Snatcher mused as he went through the tree tops. “ **I mean, with that hat of hers, she could find me before I find her. That would be a twist of—** ” He froze.

_No she couldn’t._

Her hat was back on her ship. Back in the _present_. Back on her desk by her bed while she was stricken with the **_pecking_** 25 day illness. Too sick to move or leave her bed. With a spiking fever and in pain.

There was _no possible way_ for her to find him. Much less even _move_ on her own.

“ ** _Blast It!_** ” He screamed, digging his claws in his mane and tugged. “ ** _WHY, of ALL things to HAPPEN, did THIS have to HAPPEN?!_** ” He growled, shaking with rage. “ **I’ll _NEVER_ find her at this rate! I can’t navigate my OWN forest! _NOTHING_ looks familiar to me! I can’t just keep hopping tree to tree and expect something to show up!**”

With the last outburst, he sighed tiredly. “ **All this running around.** ” He groaned, leaning against the tree heavily. “ **‘S making me tired.** ” A yawn went out his mouth. Snatcher was lightly surprised. His body felt heavy and worn out. Which was surprising since he had never felt _this_ tired before.

“ ** _Peck._** ” His wounds. His body was taking all his energy trying to heal them. Looking around searching for the kid was draining him much faster than he would like. “ **At this rate I’ll never find her…** ” His eyes felt heavy. “ **A quick nap. Yes. A nap will get me energized again…** ” He mumbled, coiling around the tree’s top, getting comfortable in the thick branches that supported him.

The world soon became darkness as he closed his eyes and let sleep take over.

~*~

_“ **Kid, what are you doing?** ” The small girl standing before him had some sort of object in her hands. She walked about, stopping a few times with the object pointing to the sky and waited before it gave a ping sort of noise and went back to walking around._

_“Star mapping.” Snatcher looked at her in confusion. “My ship has a navigation system that follows star patterns that sets a course for it to travel. It remembers where planets are based on star alignment.”_

_“ **Your ship hasn’t forgotten where your planet is has it?** ”_

_“No silly!” Hat Kid laughed. “I’m updating this planet’s constellation in the system. That way, when I go home, I can always come back for a visit!”_

_“ **I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.** ”_

_She stuck out her tongue. “Well too bad! It’s in the system and you can’t do a thing about it!”_

_Snatcher smirked. The kid was taking too much after him.“ **And expect more pestering visits from you? Not on my watch.** ” He made a grab for the object but to her credit, the kid was always ready to jump out of reach. She blew a raspberry as she switched to her Sprint Hat and took off on her scooter. “ **You can’t escape me in my own forest kid! This is MY domain!** ”_

_“We’ll see about that!” Hat Kid shouted over her shoulder, driving deeper into the woods. Snatcher grinned, diving into the shadows. It was like a game of cat and mouse between them, only with a more spooky twist to it. As Snatcher gave chase to the speeding kid, he would pop out at random times in front of her, giving the poor girl a small scare and trying to take a swipe at her._

_She always managed to dodge at the last second and speed away on her scooter. How she managed to not run into things as he chased her was a complete mystery to him. He was sure that scaring her would make her crash into something by now but she somehow evaded running into things. “ **You can’t run away forever kid!** ”_

_“Watch me!” Snatcher couldn’t help but smile at her retort. Admittedly, he could out speed her and teleport around without limitations, but where would the fun be at? It was more fun to let her think she could get away from him. The thought of her surprised face once he caught her wouldn’t be as rewarding as the real thing._

**As fun as this might be, it’s time to put an end to this little game of ours _._** _He thought, teleporting far ahead of the kid and hid behind a large tree. The roaring engine of the little scooter was fast approaching the tree he hid behind and Snatcher prepared himself to leap out and nab the kid._

_Once he was sure she was close enough, he leapt out looking as menacing as possible. “ **FOO—!** ” He started to shout, but stopped short when he noticed there was a large lacking sign of the kid and her scooter. He looked around. There was no way he could have missed the kid! Her scooter was too loud to sneak past him!_

_“ **Kid? Where’d you go?** ” There was no sign of the small alien anywhere in his line of sight. “ **Kid, this game is getting old. Come out already!** ” No reply. Snatcher started to frown. This surly was one of her elaborate pranks._

_“ **Ooh, I get it. We’re playing scare the Snatcher huh? Well too bad for you that I don’t feel like playing this game kid.** ” He placed two fingers in his mouth, blowing out a whistle that was loud enough for everyone in the forest to hear. He smiled, waiting for the arrival of his loyal minions to start popping up…_

_Only none of them did._

_Snatcher frowned. It didn’t take_ this _long for his minions to show up. They may not be powerful as he was, but they did have a few perks to being ghosts. “ **You lot better not be in on this!** ” He growled. “ **If you don’t show up in the next ten seconds, this**_ **entire _forest goes up in flames!_** _”_

_He waited._

_Nothing._

_“ **…** ” His frown deepened. This was not normal. “ **Is anyone there? Kid? Anyone?** ” No one replied to his calls. “ **Guys? Kid? Anyone?!** ” Worry pooled deep within him. Someone had to show up soon. It just wasn’t natural for anyone to ignore him unless…_

_Unless something was horribly wrong._

_Dread came upon him and he shot up into the sky. The high view gave him a clear vantage point of his whole forest, so it was easier to spot anything that looked even remotely out of place. He gazed around, looking for any signs of his minions or the kid but couldn’t see anyone. Not even a simple Dweller._

_“ **What’s going on?!** ” Panic took over. He couldn’t sense anyone in his forest. Dead or living. “ **HEY! IS ANYONE OUT THERE?! MINIONS?! DWELLERS?! KID?!** ” He called out, hoping someone would respond._

_“SNATCHER!”_

_His head perked up. “ **Kid?** ”_

_“SNATCHER HELP!” He whirled around, looking for the direction the kid’s voice was coming from. “HELP!”_

_“ **KID WHERE ARE YOU?!** ” He looked about frantically. He couldn’t pinpoint where her voice was coming from, all previous thoughts of thinking it was a prank gone as the sheer franticness in her yelling put a new line of worry in his mind. “ **KID! KID!** ”_

_“HELP ME! HELP ME!”_

_“ **KID WHERE ARE YOU?!** ”_

_“SNATCHER PLEASE HELP!”_

_“ **WHERE ARE YOU?!** ”_

_A shrilling scream echoed into the night sky._ Her _screams. Terror over took the Snatcher. “_ **KIIIIIID!** _” He shot back down into his forest, racing about through the trees, searching for the child. “ **KID! KID!** ” He called out hoping she would respond. “ **KID WHERE ARE YOU?!** ”_

_“SNATCHER!”_

_He spun around. “ **KI—!** ” A solid punch hit him square on the right of his head, decking him on the cheek and causing him to fall out of the tree he was in and land on the ground._

_Wait…_

_Tree…_

Snatcher gasped as his senses slammed down on him. His wounds were alight with pain from the sudden fall. Groaning as he sat up, he looked up at the tree he was just in, shooting a dark glare at it. To his great surprise something stared down at him as well.

Something very familiar.

“ ** _A Dweller?!_** ” Snatcher exclaimed in surprise. Indeed, it was a Dweller. A pale colored Dweller with a crying mask on its face.

Wait.

If there was a Dweller here, then that must mean! Snatcher looked around, but to his disappointment, the forest was still green. Still alive.

Still in the past.

“ **Of course. Shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.** ” Snatcher grumbled as he got up. “ **Wait a minute.** ” He squinted at the Dweller as it floated down to him. “ **You’re that same Dweller. The one at the fight.** ”

It slowly bowed its head.

A silent agreement and acknowledgement.

“ **Well, aren’t I just lucky? Guess you got dragged along when that Time Piece smashed.** ” Snatcher smiled for once, glad to see he wasn’t the only dead thing around here. “ **Though, I don’t know how much of a help you can be at the moment.** ” He pondered, opening one hand for the Dweller to hover over. “ **You can’t really do anything other than float about. And you can’t really talk. I can’t make a contract to give you a body since all my power has gone to fixing the damage.** ” He looked down at himself.

The wounds were still just as bad as there were, though he wasn’t bleeding ghost blood anymore. “ **Don’t know how much help you’ll be. Unless you happen to know where the kid is.** ”

The Dweller nodded its head.

“ **… Wait… you _know_ where the kid is?**” Snatcher couldn’t believe his luck. The Dweller nodded again, hovering off to a distance before stopping and looking back at him.

Silently asking him to follow.

“ **Alright, alright. Hang on.** ” Snatcher grunted, slowly floating after the Dweller as it lead the way. It felt silly and sluggish to follow the Dweller like this besides teleporting around, but if it meant that he would find the kid and get out of this crazy timeline, then he would swallow his pride. For now.

It was taking much longer than he would like as several times he had to stop and rest a bit. The Dweller paused each time he stopped, waiting for him to get enough energy to move again. “ **Pecking corpse.** ” He cursed, leaning against a tree for the twentieth time. “ **We wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for him.** ” He lightly touched his wounds.

The Dweller silently said nothing as they continued their path. Snatcher wasn’t sure if he preferred the silence. Dewllers were mute beings. They had been since they died. Having any sort of conversation with them was out of the question. Though, it would have been nice if they could talk. The things they could tell him. Not having to guess what they were trying to communicate.

 ** _At least they can’t tell others what they’ve seen._** Snatcher thought. **_I don’t want anyone seeing me like this. Weak. Powerless. It would be a bad image to show to the minions._**

The Dweller ducked under a bush. Snatcher floated closer to the ground, lifting the bush’s branches up and smiled in relief. “ **Kid.** ”

At last, he had found her. She looked scuffed and her hair was a mess, but her chest was moving. That was all he needed to know that she was alive. The Dweller stared back at him, its head resting on the kid’s stomach while its body was wrapped around her protectively. “ **Heh. Guess you have some use after all.** ” Snatcher chuckled, reaching inside the bush and pulled Hat Kid out and into his arms.

She made some small noises as he moved her, but she stayed unconscious, limp in his arms. “ **Of all the times you pick to get some rest.** ” Snatcher laughed hollowly, hugging her close to him. At least she was still alive. That was the good news. But now came the problem of what to do next.

“ **Now what to do.** ” He pondered, brushing some bangs out of Hat Kid’s face. The Dweller hovered next to his head, staring at him and the alien child. “ **Can’t call on anyone to help us. Can’t use my powers. What a predicament we’re in, huh kid?** ” He frowned a bit, placing his hand on her forehead. “ ** _Peck!_ You’re fever has gone up!**” He hissed, feeling the heat radiating off her.

“ ** _Peck! You’re still sick!_** ” Snatcher smacked himself. How could he forgotten that the kid was still effected by the 25 day illness?! Now he had a sick child do deal with along with trying to get back to the present! “ **Peck, peck, peck, peck, PECK!** ” He growled. This made thing worse. He didn’t know what to do with a sick child! He couldn’t remember the ingredients needed for the cure!

“ **THIS IS A FINE MESS I’M IN!** ” He roared, scaring a few birds and the Dweller. He sighed tiredly, rubbing his face. “ **I seriously do not have the energy for this…** ” He looked down at the child. “ **I really wish things would go my way for once. Maybe then we wouldn’t be in this mess.** ”

If things went his way, he would be home, ruling his kingdom. Eating souls. Making contracts. Having free labor.

_Never falling for Vanessa._

_Never meeting the kid._

“ **Fruitless wishing.** ” He sighed, hugging the small being close to him. She mumbled something incoherent, snuggling against him. “ **Still not a bed kid.** ” Snatcher chuckled despite the situation they were in. “ **Though finding shelter for tonight wouldn’t be a bad idea right now.** ” He hummed, looking about. If his memory served him right… “ **Come on.** ”

He started heading off in what he hoped was the right direction. The Dweller followed after him with no objections.

~*~

“ **Here we are.** ” Snatcher smiled, finding a big cave that fit his size comfortably. “ **This should work for now.** ” He nodded in satisfactory, though his satisfaction didn’t stay long as the kid let out a weak cough. She had been shivering for a while, cuddling up to Snatcher for warmth that he could not produce. “ **Oh kiddo.** ” He sighed sadly.

He glanced out the cave’s entrance. Sticks littered the ground, just enough for a small fire. But did he have enough power to make a fire? He didn’t know. Better to try though. The cave wasn’t very warm.

Grabbing enough sticks and arranging them in the center of the cave, Snatcher focused as much energy as he could into a single hand, willing for a spark or a tiny flame to emerge. Nothing was happening, and still continued to do nothing as minutes went by.

“ **Come on, come on.** ” Snatcher groaned, trying to force his powers to obey him. “ **Come on.** ” Still nothing came, and Snatcher gave up with a defeated sigh. “ **This isn’t working…** ” He frowned deeply. He didn’t have the power to do anything. He was weak and alone. There was nothing he could do.

Then the kid starting coughing.

“ **Kid?!** ” Snatcher jumped in surprise, holding the child close as she let loose a series of harsh coughs. She was shivering harder now, whimpering in pain. Snatcher actually felt scared, fearing that she might die right there and now. He looked at the pile of wood again, this time putting on a determined face, and pointed at it with a talon.

“ **Come on.** ” He mumbled, trying to focus his energy in one spot. “ **Come on.** ” His eyes narrowed, willing his magic to work. “ ** _Come on_.**” He growled, his face scrunching as he tried his hardest to get his powers to listen to him. Energy buzzed in his arm, sparking at his fingertips but not enough, it just _wasn’t enough_. “ ** _Come on!_** ” He pushed harder, drawing on all his will for this to work, and it would work if he just had a small push.

He tried thinking of his minions and his home. All his law books stored away that were unattended with no one to read them. Of trespassers entering his forest. Of dangers that could happen without him there guarding his kingdom.

_Of a certain corpse smiling wickedly with his strings wrapped around the small girl as she cried for help. Tears streaming down her face as the threads tightened, cutting the blood circulation in her limbs. Her face turning into a shade of blue from lack of air getting to her lungs—_

An angry yell bounced off the cave’s walls as a jolt of lighting sprang out of Snatcher’s finger, hitting the pile of sticks dead on. He panted heavily, feeling the drain of energy weigh him down. Though, he was quite proud of himself as a small fire came to life.

He crept closer to the growing flame, curling around it with the kid at a safe distance so she wouldn’t burn but still received its warmth. “ **guess i… still got… some juice left in… me…** ” He panted, smiling to himself as he made himself comfortable. “ **we’ll… figure… something… out… in the… morning…** ” He brushed his fingers across Hat Kid’s face lightly.

She still gave no reply, but her shivering had gone down. He chuckled lightly, gazing at the fire. Just as drowsiness was beginning to set in, the Dweller came into view. “ **Oh, right. Forgot about you.** ” It tilted its head. “ **Look, since you don’t need sleep, how about you make yourself useful? You can keep a lookout outside and keep watch for anyone that might come here. You know, like a guard or something.** ”

The Dweller nodded, floating out the cave.

Satisfied to know that no one could sneak up on them, Snatcher curled closer around the fire, settling himself for the night. “ **Sleep tight kid.** ” He mumbled, drifting off once again that night.


End file.
